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What courses will I be studying in the MSW Full-time Program?

Curriculum and Program Requirements

One Year (Full-Time) MSW degree requirements:

The Master of Social Work (MSW) program is a course-based curriculum, which includes two core courses (delivered as mandatory, on campus, one-week block courses), four other required core lecture/seminar courses (12 weeks each, delivered online), plus two elective courses (12 weeks each, delivered online). In addition, students must complete four milestones: a supervised 462 hour Practicum milestone (minimum of two 7-hour days per week), a Field Integration Seminar milestone (delivered online), an Academic Integrity milestone and a Masters Seminar Presentation (Capstone) milestone. There is no research/thesis option. This program meets all University of Waterloo post-graduate degree requirements.

The initial and final core courses in the program are held on the Renison University College campus as one-week summer block courses offered in Summer Institutes. The initial Summer Institute is held in late August and the final Summer Institute will occur in August of a student's graduating year. Attendance at both Summer Institutes is mandatory in order to graduate.

All students in the Full-Time MSW degree must complete all credits at a minimum 75% overall average including the compulsory and elective credits required in order to graduate from the program.

Other electives may become available throughout the year and will be shared as an elective option with students at that time.

PRACTICUM AND INTEGRATION SEMINAR:

For our Full-time students, Practicum may start anytime after the beginning of the program, in discussion with the MSW Field Team. The Integration Seminar runs alongside the Practicum.

What are the dates of the Summer Institute for students STARTING the MSW program in August 2017?

For full-time and part-time students STARTING their studies in the summer 2017, the dates of the first on-campus, week-long Summer Institute, SWK 600R: Diversity and Health, will be the week beginning Monday August 21, 2017.

For those travelling from a distance, arriving at Renison the day before the program starts is recommended - and you are advised NOT to book return flights before 6.00pm on the final day. The program runs from 9.30am to 4.30pm daily and from 9.00am to 2.00pm on Sunday. Students will be required to stay until the close of the course, at 2.00pm on Sunday. No exceptions will be considered.

NOTE: Advanced readings may be required. Further assignments are due during August/September, after the week's on-campus course has concluded.

What are the dates of the Summer Institute for students COMPLETING the MSW program in August 2017?

For full-time and part-time students COMPLETING their studies in the summer 2017 the date of the final on campus, week-long Summer Institute, SWK 601R: Health Policy, will be the week beginning Monday August 14, 2017.

For those travelling from a distance, arrival at Renison the day before the program starts is recommended - and you are advised NOT to book return flights before 6.00pm on the final day. The program runs from 9.30am to 4.30pm daily and from 9.00am to 2.00pm on Sunday. Students will be required to stay until the close of the course, at 2.00pm on Sunday. No exceptions will be considered.

Following the on-campus week, this course continues with one week on-line discussion. The final paper will be due approximately August 26** (final date still to be determined).

**Students will be completed all requirements for SWK 601R: Health Policy by August 26 at latest.

Students learn though interactive online courses featuring a variety of rich media and opportunities for engagement. Online delivery is provided by the Centre for Extended Learning (CEL).

NOTE: Access to reliable high-speed internet service, and good computer/internet literacy, is essential in order to have the best experience with our online courses.

For full course syllabi, posted term by term please see: The Centre for Extended Learning Course Search. Select the term - and select 'Social Work Master (SWK) - and then click 'search' to reveal each term's SWK courses. You'll see the detailed syllabus linked within each course.

Practicum

Students are assigned a community-based field practicum in an approved agency or organization. It is expected that the student will: demonstrate a growing capacity for professional development and assessment of his or her own practice; develop and demonstrate a meaningful relationship with the field setting and be willing to be open and constructively critical of social service conditions affecting clients, including both an understanding of policies and procedures and an ability to use these policies and procedures as well as the physical and human resources to benefit clients; demonstrate an ability to use field instruction appropriately; demonstrate an ability to identify and describe the client population; organize and interpret information/data for assessment, and prepare and execute an advanced plan for treatment and/or action including working with a client to develop short and long-term goals as well as strategies. [Note: An online Integration Seminar runs concurrently with the Practicum.]

Integration Seminar

Social work curriculum and field education are organised around specific learning objectives which link student learning to the promotion of excellence in social work education, scholarship, and social justice which are applicable to individuals, families, groups, communities and organizations. Students will demonstrate through discussion and assignments that he or she understands and has a commitment to the social work profession and its basic values of human dignity and personal worth. Students will use real life examples from the practicum placement to demonstrate an advanced understanding of the link from theory to practice. [Note: Practicum runs concurrently with the Integration Seminar.]

Masters Seminar Presentation (Capstone)

The capstone presentation is intended to be both a synthesizing experience and a culminating experience; the focus is on the development of the “professional self”. The capstone presentation is a student-directed demonstration of beginning master’s level practitioner competence developed over the student’s career, a chronicle of career development and reflection and a glimpse into the student’s professional future learning through a plan for continued growth. It is a scholarly and creative collection of artifacts accumulated through course work, field practicum and daily experiences that demonstrate the students’ abilities to articulate a model of practice and sense of the integration of the domains of professional social work. The capstone presentation culminates in designated days of students sharing their learnings. Like the practicum, it will be graded as credit/non-credit.